Elsewhere by Richard D. Parker

Author:Richard D. Parker [Parker, Richard D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Science Fiction, Adventure
ISBN: 9781477425244
Publisher: CreateSpace
Published: 2012-06-05T00:00:00+00:00

X

On Gwaynn’s orders Captain Gaston departed Lynndon with slightly less than three thousand tough and eager cavalry men. He was happy to go…Lynndon was now a place of death and the smell was nearly overwhelming, but the Plateau’s defenses were secure since many of the peasants from the finger decided to stay and see the fight to the end. The population on the border with the Deutzani had grown tired of the constant threat to their country and felt compelled to fight back. Massi it seemed, was growing angry…very angry. There were now well over five thousand men and women camped around Bert’s up on the Plateau.

According to Speaker Sarbeth, Gwaynn and the rest of the Massi army were perhaps fifty miles to the southwest and drifting slowly toward the Scar. They were retreating cautiously before the Palmerrio, not wanting to engage until their cavalry arrived. Gwaynn was mindful of the Scar at his back, though they still had nearly twenty miles of open land in which to operate before being trapped against it. Gaston quickly decided to head straight south first before angling toward the west. The cavalry moved rapidly over the wide landscape, and ate up the miles, eager to join the army once more. The Plateau was ideal for horse warfare. It was flat, open and seemingly endless with few natural obstacles, though the landscape did contain the occasional gully, stream or wash.

Toward late afternoon on the first day out of Lynndon, a lone horseman suddenly appeared, riding fast toward them from the west. There was a bit of scrambling before the horseman was recognized as Patia Hawken, a long range scout. She rode through the ranks at top speed then pulled to a hard stop before Captain Gaston. He couldn’t help but smile at the eager young girl, who was no more than fifteen. She might be young and slight, but she was the fastest damned rider they had and a better than average tracker.

“It’s…it’s…the...Palmerrio cavalry,” she said while trying to catch her breath. Her face was flushed with excitement and from the exertion of riding hard, and her hair was damp with sweat. Gaston noticed she had little beads of perspiration running down the sides of her face leaving trails of clean skin that contrasted greatly with dust covered whole.

“Where?” He asked alarmed but with equal excitement. Patia was still breathing heavily and was gazing at him with her large hazel eyes. Suddenly she smiled.

“Ten miles due west…they’ve stopped for the night,” she said still gasping slightly. “They’ve stopped in a wash, near the center channel…looked to be the trickle of water that brought them in.”

“A wash? How many? How deep is the wash?” Gaston fired at her before she had time to even formulate one answer.

But when he finally had all the information he could glean from her, he smiled, moved his horse forward and grabbed her hand. Patia gazed up into her commander’s eyes and suddenly her heart was pounding all the more fiercely in her chest.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.